Kean Hosts Congressional App Challenge Winner Recognition Event

(February 20, 2026) READINGTON, NJ - Last night, Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07) hosted an event to recognize the top winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge for New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District.

"It was a privilege to honor the students who excelled in this year's Congressional App Challenge," said Congressman Kean. "Each of them designed and built impressive applications that showcased their hard work, creativity, and technical skill. These young innovators possess extraordinary talent, and the level of thought and execution they brought to this competition speak to the strength of STEM education in our district."

The overall winners of the challenge are Maxwell Brohm and Zander Leon. These Morris County School of Technology students created the app, ChronoIQ, designed to enhance students' time management skills, promoting greater efficiency while minimizing stress and academic pressure. The judges selected ChronoIQ as the top winner based on the overall quality of the concept, presentation, and technical expertise. The judges also noted its intuitive, well-designed interface and the app's overall visual appeal and cohesiveness.

This spring, Brohm and Leon will represent New Jersey's 7th Congressional District in Washington, D.C. at the House of Code event. There, their app will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol building, and they will have the opportunity to connect with fellow coders, technology professionals, and Members of Congress from across the country.

Reflecting on what inspired their app, Brohm and Leon said, "Our inspiration for ChronoIQ came from our own struggles with time management. We both have struggled with procrastination, which causes a lot of stress during school and at home. Staying up late to finish assignments has even affected our health. That's why we created ChronoIQ, to help students stay organized, lower stress, and live healthier lives."

Four additional apps earned Honorable Mentions in the competition, and their developers were also recognized at Thursday's event.

• The Healthy Outcomes Honorable Mention went to Ridge High School students Madhubala Mohanakrishnan, Riya Laheja, and Rameen Nazim for their app, SymptoScan.
• The Social Awareness Honorable Mention went to Michael Tan, a student at Union County Magnet High School, for his app, forum.
• The API Usage Honorable Mention went to Ridge High School students Aryaman Arora and Kevin Chen, for their app, SafeSphere.
• The Rising Star Honorable Mention went to Mount Olive Middle School student, Romit Gurao, for his app, VertiSight.

All submissions for this year's Congressional App Challenge were judged by Mr. Vincent Panico, Mrs. Samantha Billig, and Mr. David Angradi. A former computer science professor at Raritan Valley Community College, Mr. Panico uses his tech background as a sales leader in the enterprise technology world and as Deputy Mayor of his hometown of Readington. Mrs. Billig, named in 2016 as the Hunterdon County Teacher of the Year, has been a Business Education Teacher at Hunterdon Central in Flemington for 18 years, where she teaches Entrepreneurship 1 and 2, as well as Digital Multimedia Design. A graduate of Rutgers University, Mr. Angradi leverages his more than 20 years of experience helping customers with their Digital Transformation initiatives as Field CTO with Presidio.

###